I was more Grim Reaper than home cook when testing Kraft's Easy Baked Parmesan Meatballs recipe. I did my best to kill these meatballs. Accidentally, of course.
First, I doubled the dried seasoning used to replace a freshingredient.
Then, despite weighing each portion of meat formed into a ball, I ended up with an extra meatball.
Finally,I baked the meatballs well past the point of well done into a level of dryness one would experience in Death Valley.
The end result was tastier than any frozen meatballs I've added to spaghetti.
I'll get into the details of my latest kitchen misadventure and apply the RecipeFact TruthSayer to the "easy" claim made by Kraft, but first, let's dig into the recipe.
Easy Baked Parmesan Meatballs
Makes: 12 meatballs
1 pound ground beef
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (substitute 1 tablespoon parsley flakes)
1 egg, beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
Heat oven to 375 F.
Mix ingredients together just until blended; shape into 12 meatballs.
Place on greased foil-covered rimmed baking sheet.
Bake 25 minutes or until internal temp 160 F.
(Recipe from Kraft)
TASTING NOTES: Ignoring the dryness due to my overcooking, the Parmesan flavor elevates the flavor beyond typical frozen versions. I substituted parsley with Italian seasoning that added another layer of flavor.
EQUIPMENT: Whisk or fork, mixing bowl, measuring cup and spoon, rimmed baking sheet and meat thermometer. Optional: knife or garlic press and kitchen scale.
PRACTICALITY RATING: 4. Knock that down to a 3 if you are willing to cheat by using minced garlic from a jar and readily stocked with fresh or dried parsley.
COST: $6-$7. Cost could exceed this estimation due to fluctuation in ground beef prices and choice of name brand or generic grated Parmesan cheese.
HACKS/INSIGHTS: In my quest to figure how much Italian seasoning I needed as a substitute ingredient, I looked up the conversion of fresh to dry parsley. The answer came in teaspoon measurements, so I then searched for teaspoons in a¼ cup. Then I converted that to tablespoons. My math told me to use 2 tablespoons of dry Italian seasoning. After dumping in 2 tablespoons, I saw Kraft listed the dry parsley substitution below the instructions as 1 tablespoon. There's your lesson at taking an extra minute to read through all instructions before you begin cooking.
Regardless of all the unnecessary math and internet searches, I liked the flavor from the pumped up dose of Italian seasoning. I did use a generic brand. A better seasoning blend might overpower the other flavors.
Math failed me a second time when I divided the total weight by 12 then measured each portion of meat mixture before rolling them into balls. I ended up with 13 meatballs. Maybe I should have rounded up.
More is better when it comes to meatballs but larger meatballs may have withstood the full 25-minute bake time.
My oven doesn't run overly hot and at 25 minutes internal temps reached 192 F. More than 30 degrees past done. That's your lesson in checking temperatures sooner— I'd say at 15 minutes— rather than later.
Despite a multitude of mistakes, these meatballs beat the frost off any frozen version I've tasted. Big Food again proves that it lines its packages with nearly indestructible recipes.
If making meatballs with spaghetti, the baking time is about the same as it takes to boil noodles and heat sauce. Time that would be needed to heat frozen meatballs. The only additional time needed to make homemade meatballs is a few minutes to mix ingredients together.
With a good base recipe, home cooks can customize meatballs to please their palates. Add some Italian sausage or red pepper flakes for an added burst of flavor.
RecipeFact TruthSayer:You can make homemade meatballs if you possess the following skills:
- Beat an egg
- Measure and weigh ingredients
- Mix ingredients together
- Shape ground meat into meatballs
- Tell time or set a timer
- Read a thermometer
- Operate an oven
Those are skills that could be mastered by a 10-year-old. (Provided there is some adult supervision while operating the oven.)
Our rating: True. If you can make hamburgers, you can make meatballs.
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ABOUT THIS SERIES:I test recipes found on food packages in my very average kitchen with my moderately above average cooking talent and meh presentation skills. I'll provide some insights and basic cooking tips. If you don't find these stories useful, hopefully you find them entertaining.
Contact Daniel Higginsdphiggin@gannett.com. Follow @HigginsEats onTwitter and Instagramand like onFacebook.
